Coolest Construction Kid Birthday Cake Ideas

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Construction Index:

(Click on an image below to view the enlarged
photo and preparation tips submitted by our readers)

Dump Truck 01

Dump Truck 02

Dump Truck 03

Dump Truck 04

Dump Truck 05

Toolbox 01

Coolest cake ideas submitted by:

Beverly B.
Helotes, TX

We had a dump truck party for my son's 2nd birthday. I made his invitations in the shape of a dump truck and looked for cake ideas to do a cake the same way.

I made 3 cake mixes and put each into their own 7x11 pan. I just used 2 marble cake mixes and a chocolate cake mix and then put some icing between the layers to hold it together. The bottom layer of cake was the 7x11 size and then each layer on top was cut a little bit smaller to make the shape of the truck. I used yellow and black icing to decorate the truck.

Also, I put orange M&M's for the lights and then I used 4 wheels from a dump truck I bought at the store because I thought that would be easier and cuter (which it was) than trying to do anything else.

I spread chocolate icing beneath the dump truck to look like dirt. For the "dirt" in the back of the truck I crushed up some Oreo's and put them in there and also put some on the cake board. I borrowed some signs from my son's toys that said Caution, etc. and also put them by the cake.

This cake wasn't all that hard to make and everyone loved it and thought it was one of the cutest cake ideas!

My nephew/godson turned one on June 3rd and since I gave his mom the idea of doing a construction site birthday theme & he is nicknamed tank, I figured it was only logical that I make him a Tonka truck.

I used 3 sheet cakes for the main body parts, French Curlers dipped in chocolate to simulate the tires, Chiclets for lights and black licorice for bumper/fenders. I then crumbled chocolate graham crackers and patted them on top of the chocolate frosting to make it look like dirt. :-)

I wanted the truck to look like it was dumping the dirt, so I made a cardboard/black tissue paper rig/stand to give the back some lift/tilt. This was one of the coolest cake ideas and was a hit with the guests. and heavy to carry!!! :-)

This is one of those cake ideas that was inspired by a one year old's fascination with dump trucks. His Mom brought me the truck to copy and wanted to serve FIFTY people with the cake. It ended up being the same size as the original - as in the picture above!

Materials:

One each 12"x18" and 9"x13" masonite boards (these can be purchased and cut at your home improvement store.)

4 two and a half inch long dowel rods, big enough to attach to boards with screws.

Eight screws to hold the rods to each board.

4 chocolate cookies to crumble for the load.

1 small pretzel rod for the smoke stack.

Butter cream icing

Star tips, usually #16,#14, and for the tires,#22

Cakes to bake:

2 9"x13" sheet cakes

4 cupcakes

Assembling the board:

Pre-drill holes for attaching the small board and the rods. The wheels will go where the rods are. The cake will sit on the smaller board. Then use the holes to mark the large board and drill these. Ice the middle of the large board with store bought dark chocolate frosting, this is the road. Attach the dowels.

Next, ice the sides of the road green. You can do this smooth or use a grass tip. I found that the masonite soaked up all the oil in the frosting and this changed the color. You could probably use royal icing with great results. That way the board assembly could be done a day or two ahead of time!

Assembling the cake:

Cut and assemble all the cake pieces you will need so that you will know where everything goes. One of the best cake ideas is to refer to a dump truck for shapes to cut. I found that I needed:

1 9"x13" for the bottom.

1 9"x8" or so (I eyeballed it) for the dump.

1 oddly cut cab shaped cake piece

1 wedge shaped to sit on the 9x8 toward the front of the dump piece.

4 cupcakes

This step is easier if you leave off the top board. Lay cupcakes against board assembly and cut to just fit under top board. Cut or slit cupcakes to fit around dowels and put into place on each. Ice back and sides of wheels with a star tip and zigzag motion.

Screw the 9x13 board onto the dowels. We used toothpicks as guides. Position the 9x13 cake on the board. To ice front of wheels use a very long shell from the outside to the middle of the tire, remembering that the tops of the tires will be higher than the cupcakes (ice over the board as if it weren't there.) Put a small circle of yellow stars in the center of each tire.

Assemble the rest of the cake except the cab (making sure to put icing between each new addition.) Ice it with a crumb coat of yellow frosting.

Referring to the real truck, cover the bottom inch or so all the way around with black stars, paying special attention to the bumpers and around the rear tires (there is no black here.) Star tip the red lines and the black and white lines where indicated on the real truck. To find more cake ideas for decorating, look at a toy dump truck and find any other details you want to include such as headlights and star tip them too.

This next part is the easiest! Star tip the rest of the cake yellow, yellow, yellow!

To give the cake a three dimensional look, one of the best cake ideas is to add stars where you wanted contour: on the sides of the dump, and at the top of the wedge piece, an extra row of stars made it look like an overhang.

Cover the back cab window with yellow stars and frame it with a row of black stars. Place cab in position on cake and frame the rest of it with black stars. Then fill in the windows with more yellow stars. Put the pretzel in place for the smoke stack and cover with small stars in black.

Last, crumble those cookies and sprinkle them on the back of the dump! TA-DA! Or maybe I should say TA-DUMP! This is really one of the coolest cake ideas.

I forgot to tell you how to do the smash cake! Ice a small cake smooth. One of the best cake ideas is to take a coloring picture of a dump truck (you can find these online at a coloring site). Tape the picture to a counter and a piece of wax paper over that. Next, with a small round tip (I use#2) and some dark chocolate icing trace the truck onto the wax paper. When you are done carefully take the wax paper turn it face down on your cake and follow the lines with your finger, transferring the design to your cake. Lift off the wax paper, fill in any missing lines that didn't transfer, and fill in the rest with the appropriate color stars! Border it with shells and around the bottom row of shells alternate small stars in the colors of the truck between each shell. This is so easy I hope you agree!

This is my son's 1st birthday cake - a dump truck. I used 3 loaf pans and cut out the shape of the front of the truck in one and cut a hollow in the other for the dump and used the other to fill in and heighten it.

To join it I used a foil cover pick to hold the dump up and put chocolate fingers on the bottom of the dump for a more realistic look. I also used chocolate-covered Oreo's for the tires and foil-covered lifesavers for the rearview mirrors. I filled the dump with his favorite candy. It was a real treat.

This Bob the Builder Cake was my Sons 4th birthday cake. He loved Bob the builder so I decided to use it as the theme for his party and started thinking of cake ideas.

First I used a large 12x17 pan (with 2.5 cake mixes). Then I cut the cake and joined it together to look like a triangle - or a Yield sign. I then drew pictures (or you can use coloring book pages) of each vehicle and traced it onto the already frosted cake with a toothpick. I then outlined them with black icing and filled in all the colors.

The lower portion of the cake was bare so I decided to draw a hammer to tie in with the theme. My son and all his friends thought that this was one of the coolest cake ideas.

The entire box and tools are edible (except the paper drawing, toolbox & hammer handle and tape measure "tape" & label). The instructions for such cake ideas are too extensive due to the many tool cakes created. (I will gladly submit instructions and template drawings if I win!!!)

Tape measure "tape: paper created from AutoCAD software (what you do not see are the tape markings on the tape, exact size as real tape measure)

Tape measure label: created on CAD, printed on the printer, glued to wax paper prior to setting into place on the cake

Level (in toolbox): created from slab of cake

Nails (in tool box): created from pretzels with candy top to represent nail head

Wood shavings: melted caramel

Blueprint Drawing (in toolbox): drawn up on my AutoCAD software

Business Name Plate: Thin wood from tangerine crates, hand-painted words and screw heads

This cake took approx. 6 hours to create (not including designing the templates, baking the cake, and freezing the cakes). With all of my 3D cake ideas, I try to make the cakes as realistic as possible. I even take time off from work to create the cakes. Talk about dedication!